by Estaban Sena
Daily Lobo
"Get Estaban laid."
I'm an intern for a local radio station, 94 Rock, and photos of me of in my underwear - alongside the preceding plea - decorate the station's Web site,
94Rock.com. Thanks to a new promotion, I was convinced to strip down to my boxer briefs and pose for said pictures. I intentionally posed in an unflattering manner, because I know I'm no Adonis.
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Apparently, the station also thinks my love life needs a jump start, because the promotion involving my underwear modeling will conclude with me being paired off with a female 94 Rock listener for a semi-blind date. If there is chemistry, that's great. If there isn't, I won't have to worry about getting burned.
Albuquerque is a metropolis compared to my tiny hometown of Espa§ola. Hailing from that small, northern New Mexico town, I was disillusioned regarding the odds of finding a girlfriend in a bigger city.
In the north, girls are pretty straightforward; it's either "I like you" or "Get away; it's not like that." Since then, I have gotten schooled in the tricks some women like to play on men's minds.
Upon starting my collegiate career at New Mexico Tech, I still had the feeling that my chances of finding at least one dateable person would be good. After all, the motto most of the women go by down there is, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."
I, in my hormone-driven mind, believed I was in the good section. But I had to be careful, for the male motto was, "Tech: where the men are men, and some of the women are, too."
My first encounter with the opposite sex in college was with another freshman from out of state. Things ended when we simply stopped hanging out with each other after about a month.
After that experience, I was able to bounce back with a spring-semester relationship with an incoming freshman. To this day, I don't know why she just stopped calling me.
After transferring to UNM, I was overwhelmed by the number of potential dates. I knew I was entering the big leagues, and I would have to step up to the plate if I wanted a girlfriend. I wasn't looking for anything serious, just a relationship where we could have fun without the pressure of a long-term commitment.
I've since been schooled in the antics and mind games of the fairer sex. I started out my UNM romantic streak in astronomy class. Things began well, but then came the games. First, she demanded I spend more time with her. Then, she worked to isolate me from my friends, barraged me with text messages and did all the things control freaks do.
My next dating experience was not all that fulfilling either, and for the sake of the other party, I will not go into detail. But this woman gave the illusion that she was more serious than she was. I ultimately ended up hearing a line that I have now heard all too often: "Let's just be friends."
Hopefully, my 94 Rock-sponsored date will result in a love connection. I have enough friends as it is.
